The Orb of Xordapth
by Illyrian John
Summary: This story takes place between the fourth and fifth seasons. The girls find out that a story their grandmother told them may be true, and that they are to protect the world from annihilation.Please Read and Review
1. They

The Orb of Xordapth Part One: They  
  
1  
  
Prue sat on one of the white wicker chairs on the conservatory. The sun shone through the stained glass windows above and around her. Her black leather trousers felt uncomfortable in the heat but she managed to ignore it. She sat with the Book of Shadows in her lap wide open at a page near the beginning.  
  
Paige entered the room, followed by Piper and Phoebe. Phoebe sat on the wicker sofa and Paige settled down next to her. Piper, however, looked suspiciously at the Book of Shadows, which lay mysteriously open on the white wicker chair in the corner.  
  
"Who left the Book down here?" asked Piper.  
  
"Beats me." said Phoebe, looking over at the chair.  
  
Prue smiled as she stood up and carried the Book into the living room, calling for her sisters. She plopped herself onto the sofa and lay the Book onto the table in front of her. She scanned the page, biting her lip. She looked up and saw a notepad and a pen sitting upon the mantel. She squinted her eyes and the pad shot across the room, landing with a loud snap on the coffee table.  
  
Phoebe and Piper watched as the Book sailed up across the conservatory and through to the living room. It rested on the living room table, and a notepad flew across the room and landed loudly on the table beside the book. Paige, however, sat staring at her fingernails and seemed shocked when she looked up to find no one there.  
  
She stood up and walked into the living room to find Piper and Phoebe stood there with puzzled looks on their faces, looking at the couch on which sat no other than their dead sister, Prudence Haliwell. Paige recognised her from pictures.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Paige, looking flummoxed.  
  
"I think we might have a poltergeist." said Phoebe.  
  
"Yeah," replied Paige, "in the form of Prue."  
  
She pointed to where Prue sat on the couch. Prue smiled up at her, as though she had known her like the other sisters. Then she stood up and walked around the coffee table to Paige. A little scared, Paige took a step back. Piper and Phoebe turned to look at Paige, bemused. Then, Prue spoke to Paige.  
  
"I can't stay long," she said, her expression hardening. "I've come to give you a message, but seeming as you're the only one who can see me, I'm guessing you're the only one who can hear me too."  
  
Paige looked around Prue to the others. As they were stood there looking at Paige as though she was crazy, Paige guessed they hadn't heard a word of what Prue had said. Looking back at Prue, smiling, she said, "Go on."  
  
"I'm here to tell you that They are coming," said Prue, "and They're pissed off." Cutting off Paige as she was bout to say something, she said, "Nobody knows what They are. All anybody knows is that They won't stop until They have killed the Protectors and have gotten the Orb of Xordapth. It's a mystical orb that was created to rip down the dimensional barriers between Hell and Earth. They want it and you three are the Protectors. The information you need is in the book at the open page."  
  
Prue vanished.  
  
Paige looked at the sisters and walked towards the Book. She sat down where Prue had been on the couch and looked down at the open page. There, the page full of twisting black writing told the story of the Orb of Xordapth.  
  
2  
  
The Story of Xordapth (as written in the Book of Shadows) :  
  
Xordapth was a powerful god. He controlled the skies, crashing down the punishment of lightning down on those who were dark, and Sun and rain on the crops of those who were good.  
  
When the leader of a demonic hierarchy was destroyed by Xordapth, his followers set out to destroy Xordapth, though great his power was.  
  
A great battle erupted between the demons and Xordapth's warriors, which were humans. Though there were great losses on both sides, the demons stood victorious by trapping Xordapth in an orb of ruby. His last words were, "My warriors shall pay for their failure, and my enemies' dimension will be expanded as a reward upon my release."  
  
3  
  
Paige looked up at the others.  
  
A blue flash of light erupted behind Piper and Phoebe and small spheres of the light danced around each other. The fused and gave the form of Leo, Piper's husband. A White lighter.  
  
"Did you see Prue?" he asked.  
  
"No," Piper said, lengthening the sound, "but I think Paige may have lost her."  
  
"I saw her," Paige cut in. "She told me about They. Who the hell are They and why are we the protectors of this orb thing?"  
  
"Show then them the book." said Leo.  
  
"Book." Paige muttered, waving her hand from the coffee table to Piper.  
  
The Book of Shadows disintegrated into dancing orbs of light and flew across the room to Piper, who out stretched her arms. The spheres of light fused to give the Book which fell from a few inches into piper's arms, open.  
  
Phoebe looked over Piper's shoulder and they read the page, which was decorated with a runic border and a picture of a bright red orb in the top right hand corner.  
  
Piper looked up, having read the page, and snapped the book closed. ("Hey, I wasn't finished," from Phoebe, was ignored.) She thrust the book at Leo and headed for the stairs. The others followed her, Leo looking disgruntled at having had the Book thrown at him.  
  
They made their way up to the attic where Piper headed to a wardrobe on the right hand side of the room. She opened the door gently and began rummaging through a cardboard box full of old herbs, candle stubs and other discarded magickal materials. She eventually pulled a small wooden box from inside and closed the wardrobe door, again a little too gently.  
  
Walking to the table where they usually cast their spells, she set down the wooden box, which was carved with the same runic border on the page in the book. There was also a small dint in the centre of the box's lid, where Piper placed her index finger.  
  
"I call the powers of Xordapth from the depths of the box of the unknown." she said.  
  
The crack where the box would open glowed with golden light and the box sprang open to reveal a dark red sphere of stone, surrounded by midnight blue silk.  
  
Piper lifted the Orb of Xordapth from the box and looked at it with sternly. She closed the box and set the orb in the dint, where it sat perfectly.  
  
"Gramps told Prue and I that story when we were little. She always told us that Prue, Phoebe and I were the protectors. Prue and I just thought she told it to make us feel better, because she only did tell it when we were feeling low. I found it after she died and put it up here 'cause I just thought it was a spell or something. Guess I was wrong huh?"  
  
"Leo, what can you tell us about They..Them..erm, whatever?" asked Phoebe.  
  
"Just that They are wanting this orb." he replied.  
  
"What did Prue tell you, Paige?" asked Piper.  
  
"Just that if Xordapth is released he'll tar down the barriers separating Earth and Hell. Or. that's what I'm guessing from what I read in the book and what she said."  
  
At that moment, the floor of the attic collapsed. A large, black robed figure, its head hooded, rose up out of the hole and screeched, "Where is the Orb?"  
  
Piper waved an arm in front of herself and the demon exploded. She turned back to the table, opened the box and dropped the orb back in. Just as a second demon rose from the hole, Piper slammed the lid shut.  
  
"Box of the Unknown!" cried Paige, and the box disintegrated, flying as the blue light towards her.  
  
She took Phoebe's hand and orbed down to the living room. There they were met with a group of seven or eight black robed demon. They all screeched in unison, so loud that the girls had to cover their ears. The demons ran at them full pelt, and as Paige muttered, "Wrong place." She orbed herself and Phoebe out again and to the club.  
  
"What do we do now?" asked Paige. 


	2. The Unknown

The Orb of Xordapth Part Two: The Unknown  
  
1  
  
The demon advanced on Piper, outstretching its arms to her, gliding over the floor. She waved her arm, but it didn't explode. She tried to freeze it, and again, nothing happened. She looked anxiously at Leo, who stood behind the demon looking terrified.  
  
Leo orbed over to Piper and handed her the Book of Shadows, which he had been holding. She opened the book, walking backwards as the demon slowly came towards her. She looked up, smiling, an idea clearly forming in her head. She snapped the book closed and lifted it high, then sent it crashing down upon its head.  
  
The demon fell to the floor with a thud and piper opened the book again. She flicked through a couple of pages and found what she was looking for.  
  
"Demon be gone from time and space, remove your form from this place," said Piper clearly.  
  
The demon's form faded in front of them and the hole in the floor repaired itself. She turned to look at Leo with a puzzled expression. "Why did the floor do that?" she asked.  
  
****  
  
Phoebe stared nervously at the floor. Paige sat on a stool beside the bar of P3, the club owned by Piper. Paige's eyes were closed, and her face was scrunched up in concentration. She took in a long breath and said, "Voices of the mind transfer, let messages be seen and heard, the minds of the power of three connect, as I will, so be it."  
  
Paige gasped and fell from her seat. Images ran through he head. A book smashing down on the head of a demon. A hole in the floor of the attic closing up... Leo clinging onto her and orbing.  
  
Her eyes flung open and she was staring at the ceiling of P3. Leo was stood over her with Piper and Phoebe kneeling next to her, one at each side. They helped Paige to her feet.  
  
"I guess I shouldn't try telepathy spells," she said, rubbing the back of her head.  
  
"No," replied Piper, "and definitely not with what's going on."  
  
"What is going on?" asked Phoebe.  
  
"As it turns out," replied Piper, "the demonic followers that trapped that Xordag person are out to get the Orb and so, we have to protect it."  
  
"The demons are the 'They' that Prue was talking about," said Paige.  
  
"Ok," said Phoebe. "What's the deal with that? Why would Prue go to you when she knows us?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe she couldn't."  
  
"ALRIGHT!" bellowed Leo. "You need to stay focused on getting this box as far from here as possible."  
  
"One question first," said Paige. "Why now? Why is it now that they're coming for it?"  
  
"They were responsible for the demise of a god," replied Piper. "If you commit that crime you spent a million years in hell's prison. Obviously the million years is up."  
  
"Not possible," said Leo. "This had to happen over the last thousand years as the Book of Shadows has been written. Otherwise, somebody else would have gotten the Orb by now."  
  
"Then why are the demon's free from hell?" asked Phoebe.  
  
"I don't' know." replied Leo. "Someone must have freed them."  
  
"We're clueless," said Piper, "it's all unknown."  
  
The four of them turned and looked at the wooden box, sitting on the bar.  
  
2  
  
It was like a temple. There were large pillars at each side of the long, oblong room holding up the arches overhead. Beyond the arches, there were the stars. Yet the temple was as bright as though it was midday and the stone steps which led up to the three great chairs were all glowing with gold light. The temple was completely white.  
  
This was except for the small groups of gold, robed figures which were dotted around the room, occasionally talking to a normally dressed man or woman, which were obviously other Whitelighters. Upon the three chairs at the front of the temple were three figure dressed in white with gold trimmings. These people in the robes around them were the Elders.  
  
The Elder sat in the central chair stood and advanced down the steps towards Leo and the girls. It, like the demons at the manor, glided rather than walked. The Elder stopped before them, towering slightly. Leo looked up at him, courageous, but fearful.  
  
"They needed to come," said Leo, seemingly without being asked, "other wise they would have died and Hell would now be reigning on Earth."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Yes," said Leo.  
  
Another.  
  
"No we didn't get time," he replied to a soundless question.  
  
"So," said the Elder in a booming voice, looking up at them, "we finally meet in person."  
  
The Elder's hands, which had suddenly appeared and seemed human, rose up and pulled down its hood. Beneath the hood was an old man with long white hair and a long beard. His face was worn and looked as though it had been around forever (which it probably had), but his eyes were bright and seemingly full of life.  
  
"Welcome to The Great Realm." said the old man, his voice now that of someone who had been around a long time. "I am Merlin, Head of the Elders."  
  
"The Merlin?" asked Paige.  
  
"Yes, dear," replied the old man, "you see, when I disappeared, the real reason I had gone was because I had come here to be an Elder."  
  
"You aren't to tell anyone about his whereabouts," said Leo commandingly. "If anyone finds out where he is this pla..."  
  
"Leo, my dear boy, lighten up," said Merlin. "Speaking is silver, but silence is golden. I'm sure the girls already know this concept."  
  
The three of them nodded, still in awe about who stood in front of them.  
  
A great hole in the centre of the floor broke open, and a portal of black appeared beneath it. The robed demons from before rose up from the portal, shrieking. The Elders all turned to look at the portal, and the demons rising from it.  
  
Merlin outstretched his hand, and muttering in Latin, sent a blue ball of energy whizzing around the room. The ball hit the demons, one by one, eviscerating them. Few of the remaining living demons floated back to the hole, but a bright red flash all around closed up the portal, and the hole.  
  
The demons had nowhere left to go and the blue ball continued in its work until all of the demons where dead.  
  
"Piper," said Merlin, turning back to them as though nothing had happened, "you must go to the spirit world and find your sister Prudence. It will take a lot more than the Power of Three to win in the battle of what is coming."  
  
"Doesn't that mean that I have to die?" asked Piper, horrified.  
  
"Yes."  
  
There was a long pause in which Piper, Leo and Phoebe looked at Merlin in disbelief and Paige looked at the floor, devastated. Merlin, however, stood smiling. Piper backed away.  
  
"You can't be serious?" she said.  
  
"I am," he replied. "We will have direct link to you here and when you have your sister, we will bring the both of you back to life."  
  
Everyone looked at him astonished. 


End file.
